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The Curly Hair Book: Chapter 1 & Part IV

Here is part IV of the first chapter of my book The Curly Hair Book: Or How Men Can Now Rock Their Waves, Coils And Kinks. This part covers who I am; well, most of you know me by now and you are always welcome to check who Rogelio is. I’m just a guy who’s a bit of a hair nerd with some experience experimenting with hair!

Who am I?

First and foremost, I am a dude with curls, just like you. Specifically, I have thick coils and kinks growing on my head: the top of my head and most of the sides and back have tight coils growing, while my nape and lower sides have much tighter coils (i.e. kinks). Essentially, I have Type III and IV curls, but don’t worry about these numbers for now as you will learn all about the nomenclature of curly hair in the next chapter.

Some 11 years ago, I decided to cut through the nonsense and lack of optimal knowledge that surrounded curly hair for us men, and I embarked on an experimental journey to finally master the stuff that flourished from my scalp. I am the kind of guy who has always emphasised grabbing life by the horns and riding it; my curly hair was one of those elements in my life that was running wild and rampant 11 years ago, and it was then that I decided that it was time to address those rebellious locks. Through my peculiar awesome mane journey, I have learnt to manage and integrate my curly locks into my urban, active and 21st century modern lifestyle; a feat that would not have been possible had I not embarked on my hair-hacking journey over a decade ago.

In these 11 years, I’ve managed to live in 5 countries and travel to many more as having an international lifestyle is a choice that I made at the same time that I decided to embark on this awesome mane journey. In fact, my decision to go on to hack my hair conundrum was part of a series of decisions that I made when I was still a teenager and that had very deep existential connotations. Thus, I not only embarked on a hair-hacking journey but also on a life-enriching journey as I packed my bags, kissed my parents goodbye and went on to experience life as an adventure that would mature me into an overall better man. The only thing I knew for sure back then was that, during my whole adventure, my scalp would continue to grow naturally-curving hair strands no matter what.

During all these years, I’ve had my fair amount of battles with my hair; an ordeal that was a prerequisite to learning all about curly hair and that was at its everest before I started my hair-hacking journey. I was the one with voluminous curly hair that would grow like a bush as soon as it hit 1 inch in length, hence much of my early life was spent seeing my hair as a liability. As you read at the beginning of this book, it wasn’t until I became inspired by another dude with an awesome mane that I decided, there and then, to do something about my hair; if he could do it, I surely could do it too.

The above was 11 years ago, and since then I have experimented with my hair in all forms and manners while studying it and helping others improve their curls too. In the name of experimentation and knowledge seeking, I have put the smelliest of gooey concoctions on my hair, I have grown my mane to reach my nipples and beyond, I have gone long periods of time without using any hair products on my curls, and I have blended all sort of ingredients to make potions to apply to my hair and the hair of others. The results have ranged from awesome to potentially dangerous, and I have acquired invaluable knowledge on curly hair through my peculiar journey.

With all the knowledge that I acquired over the years, I was able to finally get my curly hair to look as I wanted it to look, and, equally important, I learnt to embrace that which was inherent to me. There was no more lying to myself by rejecting what was unique to me with all those frequent visits to the barber to crop my hair because I didn’t know what to do with my curvy locks. Instead, my acquiring of hair-specific knowledge allowed me to leave my house in the morning with my curly hair looking exactly as I wanted it to, and, of course, this achievement had a positive impact on my looks, self-confidence and overall quality of life. What was even better was that I was able to sport my awesome mane without having to spend countless hours in the bathroom or hair salon.

As I continued my journey, I was able to perfect the approach to achieving an awesome mane so that it would relate to my lifestyle as a male: I go to the gym, I like to be groomed and dressed in 20 minutes sharp, I like to go out with my friends to watch football, and I like to team up with my pals to play rugby. As a modern male, results must come with convenience, which is precisely what I know that you too value.

Despite all my hair-related experience, I am neither a hairdresser nor a barber, and I don’t pretend to be one. Of course, I have done my fair amount of consulting with a good number of these hair professionals over the years, but cutting hair is an art best left to those who have plenty of hands-on experience trimming and shaping manes. Unfortunately for us curly dudes, many of these same professionals are taught from a straight-hair perspective, which consequently yields an overall lack of specific knowledge of curly hair by those whom we curly haired consumers reach out to for hair advice. In fact, one of the issues I had in the beginning of my hair-hacking journey was actually finding hair professionals who were knowledgeable in the field of curly hair for men.

In addition to the above, I tried reading as much as I could online and offline about hair as it related to us males with wavy, coiled and kinky hair, yet all I could find was advice that was either for women, emasculating, approached from a straight-hair perspective (and thus faulty) or was the same copy-and-paste rubbish that those annoying spamming websites like to regurgitate. All of this was back in the first years of our previous decade, and this misfortune still continues to this day except for a peculiar website that has preceded this book that you are reading.

Enter Manly Curls.

Chances are that you have read or heard about me before buying this book. This is because, for some time now, I have been leading and paving the online path for curly men to finally do something about their waves, coils and kinks. Before I started my website (Manly Curls), I had already been helping out guys offline with their curls for some years, but it was in May 2011 that I decided to make it my goal to reach men globally through the use of the Internet. Amidst a sea of useless hair-related content for curly haired men, I started Manly Curls, and, soon enough, I was reaching men from all backgrounds and nations. Then, the emails saying thank you started pouring in, and I knew factually that I had entered my desired journey of spreading the word worldwide and helping fellow curly haired men with their waves, coils and kinks on a global scale. This book is the next step in my current journey.

With this book, I want to bring you the wisdom and knowledge that I have acquired through the years on everything to do with curly hair so that you too can achieve your awesome mane. By finally embracing and doing something positive about your curly hair, you will be able to reap the many benefits that come from not only getting your curls to look like you want them to look but that also come from striving to better yourself as a male. Through my personal experience and my experience helping others, I can guarantee you that achieving an awesome mane, as you will be learning in this book, will ultimately have an immense carryover to your life, which as modern men is the kind of stuff that we welcome in our lives.

Rogelio is the go-to guy when it comes to men's hair. Having embraced his natural curly hair for over a decade while living in 5 countries, Rogelio has learnt a thing or two along the way. Rogelio is the author of the two bestselling men's books "The Curly Hair Book" and "The Men's Hair Book", and his motto when it comes to hair is, "Gentlemen, having a good head of hair should not cost us our testosterone".